burrow |ˈbərō|nouna hole or tunnel dug by a small animal, like an aardvark, as a dwelling.verb [ no obj. ][ with adverbial of direction ] move underneath or press close to something in search of comfort: the teacher burrowed deeper into the library.make a thorough inquiry; investigate: teachers are burrowing into the questions that most intrigue them.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Tuning Protocol for Tomorrow

Hello, friends!

I'll print the agendas for tomorrow, but if you'd like a paper copy of our Touchstones or the Tuning Protocol with you, please visit these links to print them or check your CFG binder. Janet and Tonya and perhaps Jackie will present the work and wonderings they have related to their Heroes project.

We'll also spend a little time following up on past protocols, so if you've presented work or questions this year, we'd love to hear an update on how things are going!

Until tomorrow,
Kirstin

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Wiggins Article

On Thursday we'll have the pleasure of thinking through the beginnings of a contagious idea in Deborah's room using the Charrette, and will delve into a Grant Wiggins article using the Four A's Protocol.  In case anyone would prefer to read the article on their tablet or computer instead of in print, I'm including a link here we can reference during our meeting.

Looking forward to seeing you all!
Kirstin

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Good Questions

I had the chance to talk with Claire today about some of the questions she's mulling around and found myself looking up this interview with Peter Senge on the Questions for Living site.  So many of the questions he's asking resonated with me as questions we grapple with here.  I'll steal a few for us to try out at our meeting this week--looking forward to seeing all of you on Thursday at 3:30!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

The Fog Town School of Thought

Kit Hawkins read this poem at the end of the professional development day at The Arbor School on Friday.  I thought you would all appreciate it.

The Fog Town School of Thought

They should have taught us birds and trees
in school, they should have taught us beauty
and weaving bees and had a class
on listening and standing alone--
the children should have studied light
reflected from a spider web,
we should have learned the branches of streams
spread out like fingers or the veins
of a leaf--we should have learned the sky
is the tallest steeple, we should have known
a hill is a voice inside the sky--
O, we should have had our school
on top and stayed until the night
for the fog to bloom in the hollows and rise
like cotton spinning off a wheel--
we should have learned a dream--a child's
and even still a man's--is made
from fog and love, my word, you'd think
with the book in front of us we should
have learned how Fog Town got its name.

-Maurice Manning-

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Preparing for Thursday

Our next meeting is this Thursday, October 3rd!
Thinking about our conversation from last week, I think a protocol would be useful that could help us refine our skills in asking different types of questions, as well as to generate some ideas about the kinds of dilemmas or work we might present in future meetings.  The Consultancy Protocol is one of the most versatile, with versions for both looking at dilemmas and for examining student work. As we prepare for fall conferences, we may want tools to help us look at collections of a particular student's work or to help us think through dilemmas arising in our classrooms and practice as we strive to meet the needs of everyone in our classroom community.

To help us refine the skills needed, we'll try an interactive fishbowl for modeling the consultancy on Thursday.  It may be helpful to do a few things in advance:

Do some reflective writing (1/2 page or a page) on a dilemma you face. Use this document on framing consultancy dilemmas and questions as a guide. 

Take a look at the pocket guide to probing questions in advance.  We will have this available in print at the meeting for your reference.

See you on Thursday!

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

We're On The Calendar!

It's official, we're on the OES calendar for our monthly meetings in Morris House!  Here are the dates to add to your own calendars.  All meetings are 3:30-5:30 in the Morris House conference room:

Thursday, Sept. 19th 
Thursday, Oct. 3rd
Thursday, Nov. 14
Thursday, Dec. 5th
Thursday, Jan 9th
Thursday, Feb 6th
Thursday, Mar 6th
Thursday, April 10

Thursday, May 8th

Our first meeting will be spent in a protocol to help us learn from one another's classroom environments. We hope to see you there!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Welcome Back, Friends.

Last August Hours Before the Year 2000
by Naomi Shihab Nye

Spun silk of mercy,
long-limbed afternoon,
sun urging purple blossoms from baked stems.
What better blessing than to move without hurry
under trees?
Lugging a bucket to the rose that became a twining
house by now, roof and walls of vine--
you could live inside this rose.
Pouring a slow stream around the
ancient pineapple crowned with spiky fruit,
I thought we would feel old
by the year 2000.
Walt Disney thought cars would fly.

What a drama to keep thinking the last summer
the last birthday
before the calendar turns to zeroes.
My neighbor says anything we plant
in September takes hold.
She's lining pots of little grasses by her walk.

I want to know the root goes deep
on all that came before,
you could lay a soaker hose across
your whole life and know
there was something
under layers of packed summer earth
and dry blown grass
to moisten.
----------
What are you planting this September?
What roots lay waiting?

Let's meet to find out what hopes we're nurturing and what we've decided is important enough to carry into this new school year. Shall we try Thursday, August 29th, in the garden in front of Morris House, 12:15ish-1:00?  There's a picnic table there and I'll bring a blanket, as well. Bring your lunch and your calendar!  I'll send out a message to all LS faculty so anyone interested will know--please feel free to spread the word.